With six recorded nova outbursts, the prototypical recurrent nova T Pyxidis is the ideal cataclysmic variable system to assess the net change of the white dwarf mass within a nova cycle. Recent estimates of the mass ejected in the 2011 outburst range
d from a few 1.E-5 sollar mass to 3.3E-4 sollar mass, and assuming a mass accretion rate of 1.E-8 to 1.E-7 Sollar mass/yr for 44yrs, it has been concluded that the white dwaf in T Pyx is actually losing mass. Using NLTE disk modeling spectra to fit our recently obtained Hubble Space Telescope (HST) COS and STIS spectra, we find a mass accretion rate of up to two orders of magnitude larger than previously estimated. Our larger mass accretion rate is due mainly to the newly derived distance of T Pyx (4.8kpc; Sokoloski et al. 2013, larger than the previous 3.5kpc estimate), our derived reddening of E(B-V)=0.35 (based on combined IUE and GALEX spectra) and NLTE disk modeling (compared to black body and raw flux estimates in earlier works). We find that for most values of the reddening (0.25 < E(B-V) < 0.50) and white dwaf mass (0.70 to 1.35 Sollar mass) the accreted mass is larger than the ejected mass. Only for a low reddening (0.25 and smaller) combined with a large white dwaf mass (0.9 sollar mass and larger) is the ejected mass larger than the accreted one. However, the best spectral fitting results are obtained for a larger value of the reddening.
We present an online catalog containing spectra and supporting information for cataclysmic variables that have been observed with the Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer (FUSE). For each object in the catalog we list some of the basic system param
eters such as (RA,Dec), period, inclination, white dwarf mass, as well as information on the available FUSE spectra: data ID, observation date and time, and exposure time. In addition, we provide parameters needed for the analysis of the FUSE spectra such as the reddening E(B-V), distance, and state (high, low, intermediate) of the system at the time it was observed. For some of these spectra we have carried out model fits to the continuum with synthetic stellar and/or disk spectra using the codes TLUSTY and SYNSPEC. We provide the parameters obtained from these model fits; this includes the white dwarf temperature, gravity, projected rotational velocity and elemental abundances of C, Si, S and N, together with the disk mass accretion rate, the resulting inclination and model-derived distance (when unknown). For each object one or more figures are provided (as gif files) with line identification and model fit(s) when available. The FUSE spectra as well as the synthetic spectra are directly available for download as ascii tables. References are provided for each object as well as for the model fits. In this article we present 36 objects, and additional ones will be added to the online catalog in the future. In addition to cataclysmic variables, we also include a few related objects, such as a wind accreting white dwarf, a pre-cataclysmic variable and some symbiotics.
AG Dra is a symbiotic variable consisting of a metal poor, yellow giant mass donor under-filling its Roche lobe, and a hot accreting white dwarf, possibly surrounded by an optically thick, bright accretion disk which could be present from wind accret
ion. We constructed NLTE synthetic spectral models for white dwarf spectra and optically thick accretion disk spectra to model a FUSE spectrum of AG Dra, obtained when the hot component is viewed in front of the yellow giant. The spectrum has been de-reddened (E(B-V) = 0.05) and the model fitting carried out, with the distance regarded as a free parameter, but required to be larger than the Hipparcos lower limit of 1 kpc. We find that the best-fitting model is a bare accreting white dwarf with Mwd = 0.4 Msun, Teff = 80,000K and a model-derived distance of 1543 pc. Higher temperatures are ruled out due to excess flux at the shortest wavelengths while a lower temperature decreases the distance below 1 kpc. Any accretion disk which might be present is a only a minor contributor to the FUV flux. This raises the possibility that the soft X-rays originate from a very hot boundary layer between a putative accretion disk and the accreting star.
We present an analysis of X-ray and UV data obtained with the XMM-Newton Observatory of the long period dwarf nova RU Peg. RU Peg contains a massive white dwarf, possibly the hottest white dwarf in a dwarf nova, it has a low inclination, thus optimal
ly exposing its X-ray emitting boundary layer, and has an excellent trigonometric parallax distance. We modeled the X-ray data using XSPEC assuming a multi-temperature plasma emission model built from the MEKAL code. We obtained a maximum temperature of 31.7 keV, based on the EPIC MOS1, 2 and pn data, indicating that RU Peg has an X-ray spectrum harder than most dwarf novae, except U Gem. This result is consistent with and indirectly confirms the large mass of the white dwarf in RU Peg. The X-ray luminosity we computed corresponds to a boundary layer luminosity for a mass accretion rate of 2.E-11 Msun/yr (assuming Mwd=1.3Msun), in agreement with an expected quiescent accretion rate. The modeling of the O VIII emission line at 19A as observed by the RGS implies a projected stellar rotational velocity of 695 km/s, i.e. the line is emitted from material rotating at about 936-1245 km/s (for i about 34-48deg) or about 1/6 of the Keplerian speed; this velocity is much larger than the rotation speed of the white dwarf inferred from the FUSE spectrum. Cross-correlation analysis yielded an undelayed component and a delayed component of 116 +/- 17 sec where the X-ray variations/fluctuations lagged the UV variations. This indicates that the UV fluctuations in the inner disk are propagated into the X-ray emitting region in about 116 sec. The undelayed component may be related to irradiation effects.
We carry out a spectral analysis of the archival FUSE spectrum of the VY Scl nova-like cataclysmic variable MV Lyrae obtained in the high state. We find that standard disk models fail to fit the flux in the shorter wavelengths of FUSE (< 950$A). An i
mproved fit is obtained by including a modeling of the boundary layer at the inner edge of the disk. The result of the modeling shows that in the high state the disk has a moderate accretion rate of about 2.E09 solar mass per year, a low inclination, a boundary layer with a temperature of around 100,000K, and size 0.20Rwd, and the white dwarf is possibly heated up to a temperature of 50,000K or higher.
